Sundari, a tigress which is housed in an enclosure for more than a month after she was suspected of killing two people in Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger reserve might not enjoy the wilderness of the forests ever again.
Sources said the wild female big cat from Bandhavgarh tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh might be shifted to a zoo, most probably Nandankanan Zoo in the coming days. Presently, her movements are being watched through the CCTV cameras.
Wildlife experts fear that having lived for quite some time in the enclosure, the striped female cat is now becoming used to human imprints, losing her wild instinct in the process due to which will no longer be able to survive in the wild on herself again. This is the second time that the tigress is inside the enclosure, first time was when it was brought from Bandhavgarh tiger reserve in June to be shifted to Satkosia.
Her companion, a male tiger, called as Mahavir by the forest officials, has already become victim of poaching. It was brought from Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha tiger reserve.
Following the death of the tiger and suspected human killings by the tigress, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has already put on hold the Rs 18-crore translocation project that envisages release of three pairs of tigers in the Satkosia reserve.
Mahavir and Sundari were part of the country’s first inter-State tiger translocation plan.
Refusing to be named, a forest official lambasted the State Government for failing to ensure that the tigress remain in the core area. He also expressed his displeasure that the female big cat was being kept in an enclosure for such a long period. Usually it is wild to wild release so that the predators maintain their killing instinct in the wild, he said. Keeping in the soft ambience bring behaviourial changes in the animal. Moreover, it is doubtful if the tigress will be acceptable to the locals also who have been up in arms against the introduction of the predators in the region, he added.
Brought from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve to Satkosia on June 29, Sundari was released in the wild on August 17. During her transit stay in the enclosure, she was fed domestic animals like calf and goat instead of prey more suited to predators like her like Sambhar, bison and barking deer.
“The tigress shouldn’t have been kept in the enclosure for more than seven days. Lodging a predator in an enclosure is like gradually killing its wild instincts,” according to Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of Wildlife Society of Odisha as per a report.